Month: October 2009

Kareena-Aamir’s intense smooch for ‘3 Idiots’!

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Mumbai, October 01: Kareena Kapoor seems to be getting increasingly generous with her kisses these days! After locking lips with her ex-flame Shahid in ‘Jab We Met’, beau Saif in ‘Tashan’ and Akshay in ‘Kambhakt Ishq’, the Kapoor belle will now be seen playing tongue tonsils with ace actor Aamir Khan in ‘3 Idiots’.

Being on a kissing spree ever since she trimmed down to the much-envied size zero, Kareena this time left the fabled actor much impressed.

Heavy rain lashes north Karnataka, 30 killed

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Bangalore, October 01: At least 30 people have been killed in heavy rain in several north Karnataka districts overnight, officials said Thursday.

The worst affected was Bijapur district, about 580 km from here, with 17 deaths. The victims were either washed away in flooded rivers or died when their homes collapsed.

Belgaum, Koppal, Bellary, Raichur, Bagalkot and Bidar are the other districts battered by the downpour which continued Thursday morning.

Diamonds being mined illegally in Chhattisgarh: Congress

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Raipur, October 01: Hundreds of local residents were illegally mining diamonds at a site in Chhattisgarh since July, when securitymen guarding it were removed, the state’s main opposition party Congress alleged here Thursday.

“A panel of Congress leaders made an on-the-spot visit last week to the diamond-rich Pailikhand area in Raipur district and found mass illegal diamond mining going on after securitymen deployed at the site for years were withdrawn by the state government,” Congress state unit general secretary Ramesh Varlyani told IANS.

Living up to the Mahatma’s image, the American way

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Chandigarh, October 01: US President Barack Obama may be longing for a dinner date with Mahatma Gandhi, but two of his own countrymen are living shades of the Mahatma’s life, not just in the US but also in India.

Bernie Meyer, 73, and Donald McAvinchey, 53, have not just adopted the look but also the lifestyle and views of India’s Father of the Nation, whose 140th birth anniversary falls Friday.

Bharti shares continue to trade strong

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Mumbai, October 01: Bharti Airtel shares, which opened on a firm note Thursday, continued to trade in positive terrain after the firm had to terminate the proposed $24-billion equity-swap-cum strategic tie-up with South Africa’s telecom major MTN.

The deal, if it had materialised, would have created the world’s third largest mobile phone firm.

The company’s shares opened at Rs.435 Thursday on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) against the previous day’s close at Rs.418.55. It was trading at Rs.439.95 at 12.30 p.m., a gain of Rs.21.40 or 5.11 percent.

World out of recession, says IMF

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Istanbul, October 01: The world economy has pulled out of its worst recession since World War II and will stage a sluggish recovery in the coming year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in an economic forecast released Thursday.

But the IMF warned the recovery was largely due to massive public spending by governments. The underlying economy remains weak, unemployment will continue rising and the pace of the recovery will be slower than usual in coming years, according to the IMF’s semi-annual World Economic Outlook.

Inflation rate up, now at 0.83 percent

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New Delhi, October 01: India’s annual rate of inflation crawled up marginally to 0.83 percent for the week ended Sep 19 from 0.37 percent the week before, according to official data released Thursday.

The price indices for major groups like primary articles, manufacturing products and fuel, power, light and lubricants rose for the week under review.

The index for primary articles rose 0.4 percent to 276.5 (provisional) from 275.3 (provisional) for the previous week.

Sensex turns volatile, slips into red

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Mumbai, October 01: A key index of the Indian equities markets turned volatile Thursday morning, slipped into the red shortly before noon.

At 11.48 p.m., the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was at 17,096.91 points — 29.93 points or 0.17 percent below Wednesday’s close at 17,126.84 points.

It had opened higher at 17,186.2 points.

Around the same time, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also in negative terrain at 5,071.75 points, down 0.24 percent from its last close.

Lindsay Lohan suffers from premature ageing

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London, October 01: Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan looks older than her age 23 as she is suffering the ill effects of smoking and years of late-night drinking sessions, says a cosmetic surgeon.

“She looks at least ten years older. Those deep creases on her forehead are probably caused by a combination of things, including sun damage, smoking, and too much boozing, which dehydrates and ages the skin,” dailystar.co.uk quoted cosmetic surgeon Alex Karidis as saying.

Abhishek and Aishwarya sign a soaring Rs 25 crore ad deal

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Mumbai, October 01: Bollywood’s first couple, Abhishek-Aishwarya, who is now believed to be more popular than international duo Brangelina (as endorsed by talk show queen Oprah), have apparently become the most sought after celeb couple in India. The twosome, who have been a hit with filmmakers and are raking in huge moolah owing to their couple status.

Everything that the couple eyes, turns into gold, be it films or jaw-dropping endorsement deals, Ash and Abhi have it all.

Indonesia quake toll rises to 467

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Jakarta, October 01: At least 467 people have been killed and 423 injured following the powerful quake that struck Indonesia’s West Sumatra province, the Social Affairs Ministry said Thursday.

The deaths occurred in five districts of West Sumatra hit hardest by Wednesday’s magnitude-7.6 quake, said Tugio Basri, an official at the ministry’s coordination post. The provincial capital Padang suffered the worst casualties, he added.

The National Disaster Management Agency said thousands of people were still trapped under collapsed buildings.

China’s president dons Mao suit for National Day

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Beijing, October 01: On a sunny Thursday morning, Chinese President Hu Jintao made his first appearance in a high-collared dark Mao suit at a grand national ceremony, following the dress code which has prevailed when Chinese leaders review National Day military parades.

Recipe: Frooty Almond Halwa

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Made with healthy fruits and nuts as ingredients, this is a delectable dessert, a must have during festivals.

Ingredients:

1 medium-size Ripe Papaya (chopped)
1 tbsp Cashews & Raisins
200 gms Condensed Milk
1/2 ltr Full Cream Milk
2 Bananas (chopped)
2 Apples (chopped)
100 gms Almonds
5 tbsp Sugar
3 tbsp Ghee

Procedure:

Soak the almonds in hot water for about 15 minutes. Blanche.

Grind almonds, chopped papayas and half of the milk to make a paste.

Boil remaining milk in a thick-bottomed pan. Add papaya and almond milk mixture to it. Simmer.

US seeking to reach Russia on missile defence

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Washington, October 01: The United States President Barack Obama announced the need to work with Russia on a new generation missile shield, following his abandonment of an earlier US system that Moscow opposed, in Eastern Europe.

The tension in the International community triggered with the Iran’s testing of short- and medium- range missiles and the comments from the US’ side came subsequent to guarantees demanded by Russia on the security issue in the run up to the Iran’s missile programmes.

No differences between Nehru and Patel: Sonia

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Ahmedabad, October 01: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday played down main opposition BJP’s assertions that there were serious differences between the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Home Minister Sardar Patel, who is believed to have banned the right-wing Hindu organisation RSS under pressure.

According to reports, in a letter addressed to the Sardar Patel Memorial Trust, Congress president has clarified that there were no differences between the two great leaders.

US-Burma dialogue begin; monks demand timeline

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Washington, October 01: The White house Administration and the Burmese Military junta has initiated the US-Burma dialogue process with their first meeting started amidst calls from the Burmese monks asking time line for such an important dialogue process.

Welcoming Obama Administration’s decision to use a combination of sanctions and diplomacy against Burma, the International Burmese Monks Organisation (IBMO) on Wednesday demanded a time line for any dialogue process with the military junta.

RSS, US arms lobby complicate India-China ties: Karat

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New Delhi, October 01: Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat has accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the US arms lobby of creating complications in India-China relations.

‘There has been a revival of the bogey of the threat from China among sections of the corporate media and strategic experts,’ Karat said in an article written on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China Thursday.

‘If Saeed’s case is half-baked then bake it’

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New Delhi, October 01: Taking a dig at Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s remark of a “half-baked” case against JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said it was in Pakistan’s hands to “bake the case”.

Losing to Australia can help us, says Younus

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Centurion, October 01: Pakistan captain Younus Khan was unfazed by his side?s loss to Australia in their final Champions Trophy round-robin match Wednesday, which he felt was probably a good thing as they head into the knockout stage.

Australia?s two-wicket win off the last ball at SuperSport Park placed them at the top of Group A and the title holders will face England in Centurion Friday while Pakistan play Group B winners New Zealand at the Wanderers on Saturday.

Inflation rate rises to 0.83%

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New Delhi, October 01: India’s wholesale price index rose 0.83 per cent in the 12 months to Sept. 19, above previous week’s annual rise of 0.37 per cent, government data showed on Thursday.

It compared with a median forecast of a 0.7 per cent rise in a Reuters poll.

The annual inflation rate was 12.13 per cent during the corresponding week of 2008.

On Tuesday, the finance ministry’s chief economic adviser said WPI inflation could hit 6 per cent by the end of the fiscal year in March, above the central bank’s July forecast of around 5 per cent.

1st prisoner in video deal released

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Gaza, October 01: The first Palestinian prisoner in the deal to secure a sign of life from captive IDF soldier Gilad Schalit was released late Wednesday evening.

20 female prisoners to be freed for proof Schalit is alive

Bara’a el-Malki, 15, was convicted of attempted manslaughter and was expected to finish her sentence by November.

Malki returned to her parents’ home in the Jilazoun refugee camp near Ramallah.

More than 18,000 H-1B visas yet to be grabbed: USCIS

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Washington, October 01: Reflecting the dire straits of the job market and strict regulations imposed by the US Congress, more than one-fourth of the H-1B, once the most sought after visas, is yet to be grabbed.

According to the latest figure update by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), approximately 46,700 of the H-1B visas in the general category were filled up by September 25; against a Congressional mandated figure of 65,000.

Thus, more than 18,000 H-1B visas are still to be filled up, even as the financial year began today.

West to press Iran on nuclear plans

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Tehran, October 01: Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator is to meet the UN Security Council’s five permanent members plus Germany for talks in Switzerland, with the possibility of a rare bilateral meeting between Iran and the US.

The meeting in Geneva on Thursday comes a week after the disclosure of a second Iranian uranium enrichment plant raised tensions over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Iran has said its nuclear programme is not up for discussion in the talks and would like to focus instead on regional security issues.

Rosaiah to stay, AICC not to give in to pro-Jagan stunts

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New Delhi, October 01: The leadership crisis in Andhra Congress took a fresh turn on Wednesday with the party high command sending out an unambiguous signal to the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy camp that its demand to make late YSR’s son the next chief minister was out of question.

6 killed in US drone strike in Pakistan

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Islamabad, October 01: US drones launched fresh strikes in Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt killing six militants and wounding two others on Wednesday, the third such strike on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold in 24 hours.

Unmanned drone fired two missiles at two vehicles at Naurak, a village located along the road connecting Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan Agency, and Mir Ali, another key town in the region.

Witnesses said the militants travelling in the two vehicles were killed in the attack.